Bitso-bitso ni Manang Lori sa Santa Barbara

When non-Ilonggo friends tasted bitso-bitso, I wasn't prepared for the comment that this could be the local version of Krispy Kreme's glazed doughnut. Bitso-bitso is boiled-and-fried rice dough the coated with muscovado caramel, at least for this particular one made by Manang Lori in the town of Santa Barbara.

Though I'm not really privy to the actual recipe of Nang Lori, making bitso-bitso, is quite laborious since it requires three cooking processes aside from choosing the right kind of ingredients. Just like the puto-bingka of Nang Leling where rice flour is also used, it starts with the pilit rice being soaked overnight before it will be ground the next day.

Just like muasi (palitaw) or the bilo-bilo balls (used in making linugaw), the ground rice flour is mixed with regular flour, water, coconut milk and a little bit of sugar and vanilla. When the dough is ready, Mang Lori's bitso-bitso takes a twisted form so that it can "take-in" more sugar coating. It is then boiled and it floats, it is ready to be deep fried. After cooling down and drying up for a few minutes, it then takes a sugar coating after being dipped in a muscovado sugar caramel (with more coconut milk). It is finally cooled for the last time resulting to a glazed coating.

Manang Lori's bitso-bitso has the glaze that it is almost like Krispy Kreme's original glazed doughnut. It has chewy consistency and comes with a burst of flavour from the sugar and caramel but balanced by the plain fried dough.

It sells at PhP5 a piece and if I'm in for a sugar rush, I could take around 5 in just one sitting. But that's once in a while after all, its not everyday I get to taste this wonderful bitso-bitso made by Nang Lori.And I have to take advantage of that. Namit gid!

Ultimate Ilonggo Favorite: KBL Kadyos, Baboy, Langka

K.B.L. or Kadyos, Baboy, Langka is the ultimate favorite dish of most Ilonggos. It is also one of the most missed native dishes as kadyos and the souring ingredient, batwan , are hard to find when outside of the Ilonggo region. Basically, it is boiled/stewed pork dish owing its "deliciousness" to the combination of the soft and tender pork, the tamed sourness of batwan and the malinamnam na sabaw . One of the "secrets" of the malinamnamn na sabaw , is the fact that the pork, whether just the plain meat or pata (hocks) are first grilled or broiled. This gives the broth a rather smoky taste that makes it more appetizing.. Learn how to make the Ilonggo dish KBL (Kadyos, Baboy, at Langka) with the recipe below. Ingredients 1 kilo Pata (pork hocks) or pork cubes, GRILLED and sliced into bite size pieces 1 unripe Jack fruit, cubed 2 cups pigeon pea (kadyos) 6-8 pieces batwan fruit (or tamarind powder) 1 piece pork broth cube (

An Ilonggo favorite - Valenciana

Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

Batwan

Ilonggos know batwan or batuan by heart as the fruit is almost endemic to the Western Visayas. Its scientific name is Garcinia binucao, derived from the Tagalog name for the fruit, binukaw. It is a large green fruit with large seeds and its a favorite souring ingredient in most Ilonggo dishes especially KBL or kadyos, baboy, langka and the Ilonggo-style paksiw known as "pinamalhan". It is characterized by a tamed sourness compared to tamarind and kamias . The fruit is sold by pieces or kilo in wet markets and even big grocery stores. Batwan is the preferred souring ingredients for the Ilonggo favorite- KBL. The photo shows boiled batwan with skin and without skin (right) A favorite riddle when we were young - "Among the many fruits in the forest, but one (batuan) is the best. What is it?"

Takway

The gabi (taro) is just one of those plants which is edible from "roots to tops". The most popular of which is the tuber part which is used in a variety of dishes and mostly in combination with coconut milk. Its leaves, of course, is the main ingredient of a Bicol specialty, laing . It is dried then chopped and sauteed with other ingredients including, again, coconut milk. Then there is takway . The local term for its tendrils/runner, that part which is torn between being a stem or a root for it neither grows upwards nor downwards - it grows sideways . Scraped off of its outer skin, takway is often a key ingredient in vegetable dishes like laswa and the gabi tuber with coconut milk and local snails know as bago-ngon . It is also popular when cooked adobo style with guinamos , the local bago-ong . It is very popular in the region that even big supermarkets sell takway in style - cleaned and plastic wrapped in styro with some additions to make it easier to prepare.

A native (foods) welcome in Guimaras

Even after having breakfast less than an hour that time, we couldn't say no to this lot of native delciacies that welcomed us in Guimaras. First and foremost, Guimaras best known produce is their sweet mango famous almost worldwide. And it comes with it's best partner, ibos. This brown baye-baye variety is made from toasted rice thus giving it a more disctinct flavour compared to it's more "caucasian" cousin. I like the one wrapped in banana leaves compared with the one in plastic for it gives it a more native feel. So when you're in Guimaras, be sure to check out the markets for these native delicacies that can make your trip more gastronomically satisfying.

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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